Monday, August 29, 2011

HBO Asia's "Game Of Thrones" Premiere - Diva Seized The Iron Throne

Dear Asian fans who have been waiting this long for the premiere of HBO series "Game of Thrones", was it as good for you on Sunday night as it was for Red Dot Diva?

Prior to the actual telecast 28th August, Sunday night on the HBO Asia channel, a bunch of local geek/ pop-culture bloggers (including Red Dot Diva) was specially invited to a "Game of Thrones" media preview by the very lovely ladies of the HBO publicity team.

The event was held on 18th August at the very swanky ION SKY, an indoor observatory on Level 55 / 56 of Ion Orchard, with a breath-taking 360-degree view of the Orchard Road area and beyond.

The view just before sundown was beautiful as the lights from the busy district below started to twinkle and light up like a forest of Christmas trees.

A pseudo northern-like setting most apt for a story with an ominous warning that "Winter is Coming".

The HBO Asia team did well with the superb decor for the premiere, with colourful banners of each of the major houses featured in Season 1 - Stark, Lannister, Targaryen andBaratheon - lining up a walking ramp leading up towards the cocktail area. A giant poster of noble Ned Stark (Sean Bean) graced a portion of one of the walls. Yellow flames from big candled lamps added to the mood of a frosty Northern Westeros.

And impressively enough, there was indeed an Iron Throne at centrestage!

YESSSssssssss.

It is time to fulfill her desire for bloodlust and power, and Red Dot Diva did deviously seized the Iron Throne for *herself*.

MUAHAHAHA...

(Many people have asked so here's the truth - the prop was made mostly of wood, but it looked like a really good replica)

The Here Be Geeks folks were here earlier and have been happily chowing down on the cocktail nom-noms. They recommended her to try the various cocktail that were brought around the hall continuously by the servants.. .er sorry, servers. Like this salmon sashimi offering. Yummy.

Then, there were these cute sword and shield biscuit desserts! They were much too sweet for her tastes though.

At about 8.15 pm, the actual sneak preview of the premiere began. Most stayed on for the entire opening episode, but Red Dot Diva did notice a bunch of girls walk out quarter-way. Obviously, the fantasy genre just wasn't their thing.

Those who have already "watched" the series were well aware of the deluge of nude and bloody scenes and were curious to see how the censorship cuts would be made for the Asian audience. Surprisingly, the censorship snip-snips were not as intrusive as one would have expected. In episode one, the most noticeable portion of cuts was the one involving the two Lannister brothers and some "laydees".

For Red Dot Diva though, it was just very nice to re-watch those few seconds of "The Starkly Barechested" grooming scene on a huge TV screen.

C'mon.... she is sure any hot-blooded heterosexual female would have noticed this particular scene:

Of course, there are loads of fierce bare-chestedness in later scenes with the haughty Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa complete with pretty eyeliner) and his barbaric Dothraki tribe.

Red Dot Diva knows that most guys were eyeing platinum-haired Daenerys Targaryen for many more episodes to come. She's probably the only pretty young thing that is sexually mature enough to rage some XY hormones. And of course, she spots that frail look that stirs men's desires to protect and be heroes. Certainly, Red Dot Diva can't deny that actress Emilia Clarke has very striking good looks and a nice cushy bod.

Well, unless one has more of a thing for constantly bored, cruel and conniving Queen Cersei (Lena Headey). Gotta tackle that loving brother of hers first though. No... not the small one. The other one.

Lord Tyrion Lannister aka the Imp is a joy to watch as he wrangles his way through politics and battles with his smarts. And Red Dot Diva thinks actor Peter Dinklage simply owned every inch of footage portraying that role in the series.

There are more than enough gripping characters to root for and detest in "Game of Thrones". And as mentioned in a previous article (click here to read!), Red Dot Diva warns viewers not to fall in love too much with some of the characters. One might end up mourning for weeks.

With 8 more episodes, Red Dot Diva assures fans that there are more twists and turns to come.

Check out the preview for Episode 3:

Get ready for a bloody bumpy ride in Westeros!

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Note: Red Dot Diva has a pack of special HBO Asia "Game of Thrones" goodies to giveaway. Do return in a couple of weeks to look out for another blog contest!

HBO Asia's "Game of Thrones" publicity is also having some contests, so follow them here for more information:
- Facebook page
- Twitter

Red Dot Diva gives a big (but evil) THANK YOU for the HBO Asia team for their very warm hospitality.